BAMS Student Medal Project Catalogue 2024

BAMS STUDENT MEDAL PROJECT XXXI 2024

Contemporary Art Medals

GRAND FIRST PRIZE

JORDAN RASHBROOKE

Jellyfish Renaissance (obverse)

Falmouth University. Winner of the Grand First Prize, awarded annually by the Worshipful Company of Founders. See page 35

GRAND SECOND PRIZE

KATIE BUCHANAN

Whisky Black (obverse)

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design.

Winner of the Grand Second Prize, awarded annually by Thomas Fattorini Limited.

See page 30

BAMS STUDENT MEDAL PROJECT XXXI 2024

Contemporary Art Medals

FIRST WORDS MARCY LEAVITT BOURNE

The British Art Medal Society, founded in 1982, has grown in membership and outreach: collectors, makers, curators, writers and lovers of the art medal can be very proud of creating together a Society that has commissioned new medals every year, organised talks and conferences and brought to wider public attention this wonderful, surprising and powerful art form.

The Student Medal Project was conceived by the British Art Medal Society as a means of re-introducing the art of the modern medal into art colleges within Great Britain – through bronze casting – and it has grown to include a considerable number of UK institutions and at least one invited foreign academy each year, making it an international Project. A new generation of medal makers is created. It has become part of the curriculum in many colleges, in sculpture, jewellery and metalwork. Teachers are encouraged to make medals too. Loyal sponsors provide ten prizes. For teaching the art of bronze casting, it creates a perfect module whether a college has its own foundry or sends work out to be cast. There are few experiences in the art world to match a bronze pour, and the skills learned – wax carving and modelling, ceramic shell or plaster cast making – can forever form part of an artist’s working life.

In terms of the focus or the subject of a modern art medal, the themes are without horizons. A student may choose to examine their own feelings about a personal matter, or select a place of great significance; they may want to speak out in anger at political wrongdoing or celebrate poetry; abstract design and attention to the form and function of making a modern medal also feature as potential ideas. The parameters of two sides and an edge – a work of art held in the hand – far from being restraints, create possibilities. The prizes are based on engagement with the medallic medium, with several specific areas, such as lettering, or current affairs.

To encourage promising students, ‘Merits’ are also awarded. No theme was set for this year’s Project. Nevertheless, student work often tackles the large themes of environment, inequality – social and political – and health. However small it may be, the appeal of the modern art medal is its enormity of impact, its potential to state a case.

Marcy Leavitt Bourne Director, Student Medal Project; Secretary, BAMS

INTRODUCTION: GRAPPLING WITH THE CHALLENGES DORA THORNTON

Taking part in the judging of the 2024 British Art Medal Society’s Student Medal Project was inspiring. Working with such a distinguished panel of judges was an education in itself : Greg Fattorini of Thomas Fattorini Ltd; Janet Larkin of BAMS and the British Museum; Kate Harrison, artist and medal-maker, and Marcy

Leavitt Bourne as Project Director. Then there was the fascination of studying and debating the impressive haul of 106 medals submitted by students at sixteen colleges around the UK, plus the invited foreign academies. We gave a lot of time to studying each medal and its accompanying statement, each judge working through the pieces silently and alone, before we entered several rounds of intense discussion as we whittled down the number of medals to a core group. Although as judges we each had different tastes and approaches, there was broad agreement about which medals deserved prizes and merit awards. Jordan Rashbrooke of Falmouth University won the Grand First Prize for her exquisite medal, Jellyfish Renaissance, showing on each side blooms of jellyfish in blue-tinted seas. The arrival of jellyfish only previously known in the Pacific on our Atlantic shores has been a noticeable aspect of climate change and warming seas. On the front of the medal, Jordan showed a minute diver swimming among the soft forms drifting on the tides, which neatly suggested our place in things. Katie Buchanan from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design won the Grand Second Prize with Whisky Black, another take on climate change and pollution, with subtle casting incorporating pasta shells which made inspired use of the lost-wax process. It was also beautifully patinated to bring out the medal’s theme, and skilfully lettered along its edge. One medal that impressed me for its sense of taking its place in a long European tradition was by Jocelyn Trevena of City & Guilds of London Art School. This presents her take on the legend of Saint Agatha,

with the agonised saint portrayed on one side and one of her breasts, cut off at her martyrdom, on the other. This medal could easily be placed alongside Italian Renaissance medals on similar themes in the way that it presented the story of an individual. It was no surprise that it should have won the Michael Roberts Memorial Prize.

Another medal stands out in my memory for a completely different quality. An outstanding treatment of a contemporary issue, it was designed and made by Lily Cooper of Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. No Safety in Numbers is an original response to the pressures of social media on the young; alienation; detachment; and the fear of missing out. The obverse shows repeated individual figures studying their mobiles rather than interacting with those around them, while the reverse presents a blueprint of the artist’s box-like rooms with cutouts in the bronze, which give an impression of emptiness. We were glad to award this medal the prize presented by the Worshipful Company of Cutlers, for a ‘cutting edge’ medal that engages imaginatively with the medium. It was good to see so many students choosing the art medal as an art form and grappling with the challenges involved in the many different processes of designing, modelling, lettering, casting and patination. Many of the entrants wrote about this in their submissions with their medals, explaining how rewarding they had found it to work on the competition; how much they had learnt about the medal form, and about their own creativity. Several expressed the hope that they might continue to experiment with this art form. Let us hope that, with the support of the British Art Medal Society, they will be able to do so.

Dr Dora Thornton, FSA Goldsmiths’ Company Curator

THE STUDENT WORK

ARTISTS’ STATEMENTS & PRIZE-WINNING MEDALS

ALL MEDALS ARE CAST IN BRONZE UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY;

CARMARTHEN SCHOOL OF ART;

CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS, UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON;

CITY & GUILDS OF LONDON ART SCHOOL;

DUNCAN OF JORDANSTONE COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN;

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH;

FALMOUTH UNIVERSITY;

UNIVERSITY FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS, FARNHAM

CITY OF GLASGOW COLLEGE;

GLASGOW KELVIN COLLEGE;

THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART;

GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON;

LEEDS ARTS UNIVERSITY;

SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY;

UNIVERSITY OF WALES TRINITY ST DAVID;

TRURO & PENWITH COLLEGE;

PFORZHEIM UNIVERSITY, GERMANY;

THE ACADEMY OF APPLIED SCIENCES, NOWY SACZ, POLAND.

BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF JEWELLERY

HND JEWELLERY & SILVERSMITHING

BA JEWELLERY & OBJECT

HEAD OF SCHOOL

JEREMY HOBBINS

STAFF TEAM DELIVERING PROJECT

DAUVIT ALEXANDER, KATY TROMANS, REBECCA SKEELS

CASTING IN BRONZE

G W LUNT

KATHERINE GARDNER

Untitled

‘The medal represents Schrödinger’s cat, a thought experiment in quantum physics. The idea is that when you place a cat in a box, until you open it the cat could be dead and alive at the same time as we have no way of knowing. My cat named Greg, and my mum, who teaches physics, inspired me to make this medal, which I carved first in hard blue wax.’

Prize Winner

EMILY KNIGHT

An Ode to the Curious

‘The bronze medal celebrates the curiosity that drives us to explore and discover. It features a moss-covered rock on the obverse, which is beautiful and intriguing on its own. But for those who crave more, there’s a golden centipede on the reverse that can only be seen when you pick up the medal and interact with it. I was always an inquisitive child; I used to pick up rocks and wood to see what was underneath. The natural world was always intriguing to me. My aim with this medal was to show how rewarding curiosity is, and what a joy it is to always want to look further.’ Winner of the G W Lunt Prize.

CARA PLUMRIDGE

The Iceberg Theory

‘A calm sea hides all but the tip of the iceberg from the boat, peeking out from over the waves in the distance. Yet on the reverse, the boat sails closer and the iceberg’s true depth is revealed. The iceberg represents life with an invisible disability, and how it is unseen by strangers. I hope the medal forces people to challenge their preconceived notions about disability, and have more compassion for what cannot be seen.’

Prize Winner EMILY KNIGHT

An Ode to the Curious 75mm Prize awarded for excellent contrast between the two sides, use of surprise, texture and patination, presented by G W Lunt

CARMARTHEN SCHOOL OF ART, COLEG SIR GAR

DEPARTMENT OF FINE ART

PROGRAMME DIRECTOR OF FINE ART, SCULPTURE, PAINTING, DRAWING AND PRINT MAKING

LISA PHILLIPS

MEDAL PROGRAMME TUTOR

LEE ODISHOW

CASTING TECHNICIAN

LEE ODISHOW

JULIA HUGHES

Endangered British Wildlife

‘I have lived in the same village in Carmarthenshire for 34 years. Whereas I once saw Little Owls, badgers, foxes, Barn Owls and swifts regularly, I am deeply concerned about the decline of our whole ecosystem and am appalled by the lack of many different types of bees and birds. I chose to depict the Natterjack Toad and the dormouse, because I have never seen them and know they are high on the UK endangered list, so I wish to share my concern. I also wanted particularly to learn the process of working in bronze as the art school has its own foundry.’

OWAIN HUGHES

Dar A Dyf (An Oak Grows)

‘The subject of this medal relates to a story from the collection of Welsh medieval folk tales, The Mabaroyian, the title of which refers to a spell sung as a series of verses by a wizard to charm his nephew, who has been transformed into an eagle, from his perch in an oak tree. This is part of a larger body of work on transformation. One side of the medal depicts the eagle, and the other, the owl. The idea of transformation can be seen as a metaphor for the chaos caused to our environment as a result of man-made climate change.’

Tutor

LEE ODISHOW

I hear the sea, it calls to me

‘This piece is born from my love of the coastline. My summers are spent rock pooling, fishing, kayaking, swimming and foraging in and around the sea in Pembrokeshire. The medal is a cast of my own ear, combined on the reverse with a crab shell found on a walk. It represents to me the call of the sea, and serves as a reminder that fairer weather and peaceful times are ahead.’

CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS

UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, LONDON

BA JEWELLERY DESIGN

COURSE LEADER

SALLY COLLINS

STAGE 1 LEADER

KATHARINA DETTAR

SENIOR LECTURER

GILES LAST

ASSOCIATE LECTURER

KATY HOCKEY

ASSOCIATE LECTURER

MARTIN HOPTON

CASTING TECHNICIAN

CHRIS HOWES

FOUNDRY

ARON McCARTNEY, Mc@RT STUDIOS LTD

Prize Winner

LILY COOPER

No Safety in Numbers

‘I started this project struggling with inspiration, searching for something unique. Modern life is watching others or being watched. Choosing the window seat, peering into windows, scrolling through “day in the life” videos. As a generation we are bombarded with identical imagery, and I try to avoid bias, but it’s impossible to escape this subconscious exposure. The innate human desire for safety in numbers prevents challenge and creates a generation lacking in originality. Anonymised by their simplified silhouette, repeated figures create a crowd. Stairs provide unlimited access to the flip side, a blueprint of my current flat.’ Prize presented by the Worshipful Company of Cutlers for a ‘cutting edge’ medal that experiments with the medallic medium. The medal is shown on page 22.

CHIARA COSSU

The Show of Cruelty

‘The use of animals in the circus involves confinement, unnatural conditions, and horrible training methods. Animals are not ours to use for entertainment. I addressed this theme for my medal because I wanted to give voice to all those animals who are still under the extreme circumstances of the circus’s brutality and prey of selfish man. I show the contrast of freedom and captivity on the two sides of the medal, separated by a different destiny.’

HANNAH EAGLES

Cage of Misery

‘My medal explores the cyclical nature of human sadness and how difficult it is to break away. I did research on the human experience CARMARTHEN

Prize Winner

LILY COOPER

No Safety in Numbers, 75mm

Prize for a ‘Cutting Edge’ medal which shows experimentation with the medallic medium, here using ‘cut outs’ in the bronze to illustrate windows, a view to another side, a metaphor for being able to see through to new ideas and inspirations. Presented by the Worshipful Company of Cutlers.

and how it is presented in the media often. My work explores the human psyche and is a tool for me to explore my own experiences. I wanted to convey how our emotions can hold us hostage. Chasing freedom from pain can restrict us more than we bargained for.’

ISABEL EVANS Bullet Baby

‘The medal urges us to reflect on how many children are living in conflict zones, telling their story of the horrific childhood they must try to survive. I feel passionate about creating a better world for all. Terror breeds terror, peace breeds peace. Bullet Baby is to promote action needed to help innocent victims.’

AYDAN KURBAN

Seeking Freedom

‘Kurdistan comprises 4 different countries in West Asia, and being a Kurdish woman it was an easy decision to decide on making this idea come to life on the medal. It is the people who are still, to this day, seeking an independent Kurdistan, where occupation and racism is brought to an end, especially in Turkey, because it is a big part of the Kurdistan population. This piece will demonstrate that this nation is still standing and will not be torn apart through the separations illustrated on the medal.’

THEO McFARLANE Ricordando

‘This piece takes its meaning from ancient Roman theatre masks. With the election of Georgia Meloni as president within Italy, there have been many questions about her previously strong right wing views, including admiration of Mussolini. My medal aims to take the viewer back to the history of Italy, prior to the fears of fascism. The front is of a mask, and on the reverse the quotation: I have never been so attached to life.’

JAMES MILLER

Schrödinger’s Catastrophe

‘Schrödinger’s cat is a metaphor in physics for superposition, when the act of measuring a quantum decides its state. Rejecting this binary existence and interpreting the theory through my own life as a non-binary person, its dual nature becomes freedom and oppression. My medal is a symbol of the eternal exchange between acceptance and resistance.’

XINGYE SUN

Every Pound Helps

‘My medal reflects the issue of unreasonable distribution of food. It’s the responsibility of every caring resident of planet earth to promote welfare facilities such as foodbanks. On the front are depicted some basic foods; the Möbius ring-like structure connects both sides of the medal, transferring food to the hands of those who previously cannot reach them.’

DAISY WEISER

Let’s Head Home Now

‘My idea originated from a recent personal experience: how my grandad has been losing his memory. This has had a huge impact on me and my family. The medal is to symbolise the sadness and effects of those suffering from dementia. It takes the shape of an armchair, representing the safe space for the sufferer, and the desire to return to somewhere familiar. It is a topic not talked about enough.’

MEIHANG ZHENG

Not On Your Expectation

‘The concave back of the medal shows a pearl necklace, embedded in the wedding bed, like

a mould, which is a metaphor for the perfect woman that the patriarchal society hopes to mould into a gentle, obedient wife, bound in the space of the home. The front, however, shows a messy bed and a broken pearl necklace, a more three-dimensional picture of realitywoman, who has the right to make her own rules, breaking the fantasy of the male gaze, objectifying women.’ This medal received a Merit.

CITY & GUILDS OF LONDON ART SCHOOL

HEAD OF CARVING DEPARTMENT

TOM YOUNG

WOODCARVING TUTOR/PROJECT

SARAH DAVIS

STONECARVING TUTOR/PROJECT

RICHARD BARNES

CASTING

ALISTAIR BLAKE, JOSH VAUGHAN

HELEN AITCHISON Conquer

‘The medal is a grounding object, something to hold at times of great anxiety to steady your heart. In turn, the medal will hold you; protected by its outer shell, you can conquer your fear and find the courage to carry on. As a psychotherapist, I understand that people use grounding objects, things we picked up and treasured as children. My intention is that this feels familiar in some way.’

THOMAS STAINER Same Old Story

‘This medal’s motif and aesthetic is based upon the enduring theme of sibling rivalry, and pays homage to the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. It shows the figures Enkidu and Gilgamesh, who appear on the front, parallel with the biblical verses from the story of Cain and Abel on the reverse, thus exploring the associations with Christian and Islamic religions.’

ALEC STEVENS Meddling With History

‘Inspired by dystopian science fiction, such as 1984 and Metropolis, I’ve made a cautionary tale medal that warns of the dangers of Meddling With History when building future societies. As a contemporary sculptor, working within heritage locations, I am always curious as to how and what is represented throughout history. My medal sits within this curiosity of what artefacts survive.’

Prize Winner

JOCELYN TREVENA

Agatha

‘Around the year 246 AD, Agatha, a 15-year-old Sicilian, made a vow of celibacy. This did not deter the Roman Prefect, Quintianus, who wanted her for his wife. Knowing her to be a Christian, he had her arrested, tortured and imprisoned in a brothel. Through five years of persecution her faith and refusal did not relent. Finally, she was tortured, and her breasts were flayed off. This tale of undying faith led to her being venerated as a saint, which is why we know her story.

How do we respond to such a distant yet distinct tale of sexual violence? On one side of my medal, you can hold Agatha in your hand. On the reverse, you are put in Agatha’s place, looking down at a severed breast. I wanted to produce a work with a suitable sense of reverence and love, my first medal.’ The Michael Roberts Memorial Prize.

Prize Winner

JOCELYN TREVENA

Agatha, 53mm Prize awarded for subtle portraiture, with details that reflect on earlier traditions of making, an edge that links the two sides, and a reverse with an effective change of scale, presented as the Michael Roberts Memorial Prize.

DUNCAN OF JORDANSTONE COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN

UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE

DJCAD FOUNDRY DEPARTMENT HEAD

SCHOOL SUPPORT SPECIALIST, FOUNDRY & 3D MAKING

RODDY MATHIESON

TEACHERS/CASTING

RODDY MATHIESON, KRIS COPELAND, JANE BULLIVANT

Prize Winner

MORVEN AIRD

Tidal Trash

‘I am currently using waste plastic in my work at university, and after collecting plastic from a beach locally I was shocked by the amount that had been washed up. I wanted to highlight this in my medal. One side shows a beach scene (the beach where I collected plastic) from afar. The other side shows the plastic I found, acting as a close-up view of the ground. The beach scene was created by carving plaster and adding a mixture of wax, stones, and sand to create texture; on the other side I used a variety of plastic objects, fishing net rope, bottlecaps and a straw.’

Prize awarded by the Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers, who also purchase the medal to add to their collection of winning medals.

ALANA BRAND

Humankind vs Nature

‘In my artistic practice I explore a lot of themes of the Anthropocene. This medal links to this, by exploring the destructive and chaotic relationships that humans hold with their environment and other living things that inhabit it, as a result of activities like deforestation. The two sides depict the contrasting sides of life and death of the planet.’

Prize Winner

MORVEN AIRD

Tidal Trash, 75mm Prize awarded for the conversation and contrast between the two sides, the use of materials to create texture, and perspective, both distant and close, presented by the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers.

Prize Winner

KATIE BUCHANAN

Whisky Black

‘The medal represents an area of woodland bordering a bonded warehouse in Fife, Scotland, and is the physical output of a photography module exploring the impact of the Baudoinia Compniacensis fungus, commonly referred to as Whisky Black. Research has linked the escaping ethanol from the whisky casks to the high prevalence of this fungus in areas around bonded warehouses worldwide. The result is a blackening of manmade and natural structures coated in a thick soot like fungus. There has been little or no research about any impact to health, if any, directly or indirectly through the food chain.

My photographic study identified a woodland rich in lichens and mosses, which would not typically flourish in areas of pollution. The medal tells the story of the woodland with the microclimate of the lichens and mosses living on the whisky black. It is nature living alongside the activity of humans, and our interconnectedness.

The design used recycled materials, such as wallpaper, out of date pasta shells, coriander and cumin seeds.’

Winner of the Grand Second Prize for excellence presented annually by Thomas Fattorini Limited. The medal is also shown on page 3.

MEGAN HADDEN

A Moth to a Flame

‘I have always been interested in moths, and curious about the saying, “like a moth to a flame”. It’s almost a warning telling us you are attracted to something that is going to harm you even though you don’t know about the dangers.’

Prize Winner

KATIE BUCHANAN

Whisky Black, 88mm Winner of the Grand Second Prize for overall excellence in the medallic medium, contrasting both sides and engaging with the edge. Awarded by Thomas Fattorini Limited.

ELLA HAMILTON Solar Maximum

‘I looked into research being carried out on the magnetic field of our sun, which follows an 11 year cycle of concentrated periods of time when hot gasses break away from the sun and are released into space. Right now we are coming to a high point in the cycle, and have illustrated aspects on my medal. If these mass ejections reach Earth they cause solar storms and the aurora borealis.’

KEETAH KONSTANT Circuity System

‘This piece is inspired by the current cost of living crisis in the UK, and the connection between life and sources of energy, like electricity and heat. A heart is shown on one side of the medal “plugged in” to the light switch on the other. The rendering into bronze symbolises how objects of utility are vehicles for financial gain for a select number of individuals.’

MATTHEW TILBROOK Anthropos

‘The medal is composed of a simple disc of bronze, which holds on one side a raw piece of silver birch tree branch, and on the other a cast disc of concrete. I wanted to reference the importance materiality has had over the making of us and our environment, and investigate their relationship to us and each other. It is an interplay of organic and human constructed materials.’

BRIAN WALSH

The Elephant in the Room

‘The elephant in the dark room is a mystical concept that illustrates the underlying unity of all spiritual beliefs. God is shown as an elephant in darkness, with different cultures seeing only part of the elephant. The reverse has visual connotation of nuclear war, hinting at humanity’s fighting over their version of God. We are all fighting for the same thing.’

Tutor

RODDY MATHIESON Profit and Loss (mixed metals)

‘I broke down the constituent parts of bronze alloy copper, tin plus lead, to try and convey the extreme pressures we place on the planet in our insatiable demands on resources. Imagery of a drought/flood and a cyclone/whirlpool represent the effect we are causing due to industrial/corporate scale profiteering from our “resources”. The small amounts of white gold on the rim relate to wealth, but it is miniscule compared to environmental destruction.’

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

EDINBURGH

COLLEGE OF ART

JEWELLERY & SILVERSMITHING

DEPARTMENT

HEAD

JENNIFER GRAY

TAUGHT BY JENNIFER GRAY, MIRKA JANECKOVA

CASTING

ECA FOUNDRY

ERIN KINGSLEY

Human Cost

‘I thought about the irony of medals, designed to gloss over atrocities and to glamorise experiences. My design attempts to highlight the human cost of war and the two options that we have: one side showing the terror of conflict and the other a peace, whether this is viewed as a hopeful peace to come or the sole conciliation that the dead are at peace somewhere.’

WANYI TANG

Rough Ocean

‘This piece draws its inspiration from a news story detailing the discharge of nuclear wastewater into the sea. Through my work, I aim to shed light on the detrimental effects of nuclear radiation on the ocean, encompassing both marine life and seawater. Nuclear radiation may appear to only impact the ocean, but ultimately these negative consequences will affect humanity. The composition of the piece references “The Great Wave” by Hokusai.’

STELLA WANG

Mother and Child

‘This medal primarily explores the ambiguity of the mother-daughter relationship. It portrays the emotional entanglements and connections between a mother and her child, illustrating how despite their struggles they cannot completely sever their ties. Only after truly leaving my own mother did I realise how inseparable and deeply connected our emotions were, leading me to create this medal.’

FALMOUTH UNIVERSITY

FALMOUTH SCHOOL OF ART

BA FINE ART

COURSE LEADER

JONTY LEES

SENIOR TECHNICIAN & CASTING

TOM HARRINGTON

DELPHI BAKER

The Enduring Artefact

‘This is a medal that reflects the durability of human craft. Featuring an arrowhead, the design aims to display the transference of objects from one hand to another across history. It reflects a unique material bond from the bronze age to the present. The arrowhead is an iconic reference to early primitive construction and gives a guide of direction when held. The bronze itself is a nod to the period in history this object was assembled in. I wanted to encourage a sense of admiration for the aged artefacts.’

HOPE BILSON

Obstructed Clarity

‘Growing up with a disabled sibling means you have an altered view of life. You notice the limiting impracticalities of the modern world. A world which promotes inclusivity and is littered with unconscious barriers. This piece encourages people to re-evaluate and adjust their perceptions, to see physical constraints in public places and be critical of their surroundings, to use their eyes.’

TAMAR BETTS COTTON

Goodnight Tall Ship Irene

‘During the summer of 2023, I worked on the tall ship, Irene, and asked if I could use this as a theme for my medal. The medal will be given to the ship as a thank you. The Irene is used for sailing apprenticeships for people who would otherwise not be able to access this career, and she is also used for sailing holidays, her owners being dedicated to mental health charities. The Irene was built in 1907, a southwest trading ketch, one of the last two remaining.’

SOPHIE DOIG Take

Me Home

‘My design, showing a sailing dhow in the centre, was inspired by the patterns of East African Kanga fabric, and includes a decorative border of shells, with the Swahili proverb, which means “I am tired of rowing, I will put my anchor here”. The medal portrays childhood memories of the warm Indian Ocean, exploring the relationship between landscape identity and belonging. It also relates to the complex history of trade, colonialism and migration, heritage and contemporary realities.’

INDIGO JACKSON

My Water is Love

‘Water is prehistoric and yet timeless; it holds the memories of every living being to have existed. A matriarchal figure of life, as is a vulva. Both are vital for us to live. In the poem that wraps around my medal, I refer to my bodily water, my sexual water, the water I give to others to dry their thirst for connection. A parched body cannot live properly. Our body’s need for care and love is just as necessary for survival, yet is often dismissed.’

FELIX McCLAFFERTY Overspill

‘The medal is an exploration of emergent patterns, stemming from my interest in psychogeograpies, and the ways in which we bind ourselves by the spaces that we build for ourselves. One side is a sprawl, born from intersecting shapes, the other is sparse, highlighting the emergent forms buried within those intersections. There is ideology and intentional thought embedded within architecture, and there is another, quieter,

low-level form of emergent thought that creeps out as all the different ideas intersect with each other to meet the truth of human behaviour. This piece is a tiny droplet of this emergence, a fragment of the processes that define the artificial spaces we exist within.’ This medal was awarded a Merit.

JULIAN MICALLEF

Merhba

‘The title is the Maltese word for “welcome”, and a door knocker is a non-verbal universal expression of interest to enter. A gateway to a home. Mine being a culturally seasoned landscape, influenced by the passage of people, at the heart of the Mediterranean, Malta. Harbours a debate. An urgency for a knock at our door, confronted with an unreliable uncertainty of the homeowner’s answer. In 2023, 2,778 people died trying to immigrate across the Mediterranean. I wanted to tell a story through bronze.’

Prize Winner

JORDAN RASHBROOKE

Jellyfish Renaissance

‘Reading about jellyfish inspired this medal. Such a weird and wonderful creature, jellyfish have captured human imagination with their alien-like beauty. It appears fragile and elegant under water - few dare to touchbut it is poked and prodded in a gelatinous mess once beached. I feel it becomes a symbol of human audacity in that respect, but also of human curiosity. Studies into species such as Aequorea Victoria have unearthed a chemical called green fluorescent protein that has been useful in the research of brain function and cancer growth. Other species such as Turritpois Dohrnii are immortal, which is remarkable.

Recently there has been a boom in their numbers due to climate change, hence the Renaissance reference, so I felt inspired to create a medal based on one of Earth’s most famous creatures. One side of the medal represents the human connection, with the diver reaching out into the abundance of jellyfish, and the reverse is a combination of different species, including the Nomuras jellyfish which was once said to capsize a boat, and early drawings of what jellyfish were thought to look like.’

Winner of the Grand First Prize for overall excellence presented annually by the Worshipful Company of Founders, who also purchase the winning medal (or sponsor the making of a cast) to add to the Founders’ Collection of Grand First Prize medals. The medal is also shown on page 2.

MILLIE SMITH

Life at Sea

‘My practice is based around industry and machinery, how the engine shapes our lives and its importance. The medal is inspired by my local harbour, Mevagissey, in hope to portray the importance of the engine within Cornish industry. The engine drives the fishing boats, the centre of a fishing dominated economy, emphasising the engine’s importance within Cornwall. It also supports locals, a source of food and also a tourist attraction due to its nautical aesthetic.’

Prize Winner

JORDAN RASHBROOKE

Jellyfish Renaissance, 75mm Winner of the Grand First Prize for overall excellence in the medallic medium, with particular attention to patination and to a sense of drawing in bronze to create details, awarded by the Worshipful Company of Founders.

THE MEDIUM OF THE MEDAL IS A SOURCE FOR EXPERIMENTATION, ENGAGEMENT AND ENTHUSIASM — LEARNING SKILLS THAT LAST AN ARTISTIC LIFETIME — APPROACHING NEW PROCESSES — FROM CLAY, PLASTER, WAX TO BRONZE — STUDENTS COMMENT ON THE MAGICAL ALCHEMY OF MAKING MEDALS.

‘A medal feels intimate and totemic, the bronze is heavy in your hand, it shines to your touch and takes on your temperature.’

JOCELYN

TREVENA, CITY & GILDS OF LONDON

‘The intricate process of medal making is a journey, as each stage, from clay to wax to bronze, contributes to a detailed design made with patience and care.’

MILLIE

SUNDERLAND, LEEDS ARTS UNIVERSITY

‘It was my first time casting. I loved the versatility of the wax and getting to learn the ways the medium responded to differing approaches. I used antiquing fluid to patinate my medal and polished the unpatinated parts, which created a contrast of dark and light.’

ELIZABETH

CURRIE, THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART

‘My favourite part of the process has been patination and beginning to learn the skills needed to work in bronze, under the encouraging tuition I have received.’

JULIA MARGARET HUGHES, CARMARTHEN SCHOOL OF ART

‘When it came to making the medal I found the process of plaster carving and casting incredibly fun and freeing. My main constraint was the size of the nose and making sure the relief was not too positive.’

THEO McFARLANE, CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS

‘Making the medal was a new experience, working with bronze and different methods of casting, enlightening me on new ways to create within my practice, which is mostly painting and drawing, to make something physical.’

MILLIE SMITH, FALMOUTH UNIVERSITY

‘This project did throw up some difficult challenges, especially with the lettering. It came towards the end of an HN1 unit on lost wax casting, so it has been a really valuable learning experience.’

‘The process of creating it was quite challenging. Casting is part of our major course this semester, encompassing various stages. The most arduous phase was after casting, grappling with the exceptionally hard metal.’

WANYI TANG, EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART

ANDREA MANNING, GLASGOW KELVIN COLLEGE

UNIVERSITY FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS, FARNHAM

JEWELLERY & SILVERSMITHING, CERAMICS & GLASS PROGRAMME DIRECTOR

DEBRA ALLMAN

SENIOR LECTURER, JEWELLERY & SILVERSMITHING GRANT McCAIG

SENIOR LECTURER, CERAMICS & GLASS ASHLEY HOWARD

TECHNICAL TUTOR, JEWELLERY

DAN SEDDON

EVIE ANDERSON

The Art of Being a Girl

‘The medal represents how throughout history girls and women alike have been suppressed within society. “We give so much of ourselves just to feel small.” I delved into what feminism meant to me. The words personal and political came up, and I thought what better than to merge the two, and focus on what it felt like. The imagery shows a person with a heart exploding, and on the reverse, a switch of perspective, walking in a forest of people.’

MICHAEL BOUSFIELD

Guardian of the Lost

‘The medal is a work that shows my interest of ancient cultures, myths and legends. It depicts Anubis, and hieroglyphics. The idea came about due to a plaster carving class, and I wanted to carve something to keep me motivated in class. It turned out cool, so I made a plaster mould for wax pouring, and I really liked the swirls that were left imprinted in the wax. It is a stand alone piece.’

MAFALDA D’OREY SILVA BARBOSA LEAO

Porta-Gaia

‘The medal symbolises two charming cities in my country, Portugal, separated by the Douro River but united by the Dom Luís Bridge. One side shows the views of the city of Porto through Gaia, while on the other we see Gaia under the gaze of Porto. It has made me think that sometimes we only truly understand ourselves when we look from the outside. The beauty of each place is truly revealed when we see it through the eyes of the other.’

This medal received a Merit.

CELINE MUNISSO

Til Forever Falls Apart

‘This medal is dedicated to my late cat, Lazy, who sadly passed away while I was studying here in England. I wasn’t able to say goodbye to him in person, and his loss has left a hole in my heart. The paw print on the medal represents his impact on my life. I chose to carve him in his usual resting position, to remember him for who he was and added a halo to show that he’s my little angel now. The title is the title of a song by Ashe and Finneas.’

ABBY PEACOCK

What War?!

‘The concept for this medal started when I was asked, “what do you think about all of the wars that are going on in the world?”. I was stunned to realise that there are so many. I hardly ever watch the news, but realise that to ignore it does not mean it goes away. One side of the medal shows someone covering their face and eyes with their hands, happily not knowing about the tragedies. The other shows someone peering through their fingers, eyes open, affected by the conflicts.’

ALISA SILKO

Ode to a Place

‘This medal was crafted in celebration of a cherished memory associated with a place, a place that holds profound significance for me. Here, I cultivated a deep appreciation for nature, drawing inspiration and motivation from its beauty and serenity. It is located along the banks of the Angara River in Siberia, middle of the Taiga. The dual-sidedness of the design symbolises the two predominant seasons experienced during my time there at “Sotyy”: summer and winter.’

JAN SIMPSON

I am not A I

‘Although I see A I as a tool we will all have to work with in time, I feel strongly that creativity comes from our hearts, souls, emotions and life experiences. Something that makes each of us an individual. Our fingerprints are all individual to ourselves and cannot be duplicated, and we are not all perfect, just as each of our life experiences makes us unique.’

OLIVIA WORLOCK-BARTLETT

Together in the Past

‘The idea was to create a medal that shows people the uselessness for discrimination. One side of the medal is Pangea Earth - the earth when it was one supercontinent - there would have been no reason for discrimination because we all came from the same place. This side has “from whence we came” around the side. Discrimination is a taught social construct from recent times, and we need to go back to a time when there was no need for any of it. We need to adapt, like the fern on the reverse, historic flora, still existing today.’

CITY OF GLASGOW

COLLEGE

CRAFT & DESIGN

CURRICULUM HEAD

LISA McGOVERN

LECTURER

DAVID FINLAY

CASTING

RODDY MATHIESON, THE MOBILE FOUNDRY

SCARLET ADAMS

Lion’s Gate

‘My medal is based on endangered tigers, with only around 3,200 left. One side is a tiger’s nose, and the other is a gun, held by a hunter or poacher. The innocence of the tiger’s face contrasts with the horror and hatred depicted by the gun. The tiger could be seen as looking down the barrel of a gun, while helpless and scared.’

RYAN BASTON Oo-Oo Eggs

‘I chose this design because I felt that the OoOo bird was an interesting kind of extinct bird. It symbolises it is okay not to be 100% perfect in yourself. Most medals represent power, status, win. My medal represents it’s okay to be slow, last and different.’

ALISON CRAWFORD

Less than 600

‘I work with a sculptural mindset and enjoy realism. With this medal I wanted the bison to be recognisable and as real looking as I could manage. I found the near destruction of the bison very saddening and inspiring, the direct ties to the plight of the indigenous Americans, and how both people and bison have managed to survive.’

EMMA GREEN Ignorance

‘The title of the medal comes from an album by the band Paramore, titled “Brand New Eyes”, which was what originally inspired me to create the piece. I feel it represents people’s ignorance when it comes to not

only butterflies but insects as a whole. While people are admiring their beauty they don’t take into account how they’re slowly dying in front of their eyes; 85% have declined in two decades.’

ABIGAIL HOWATSON Limited

‘This medal is inspired by the Grévy’s Zebra, of which only fewer than 2,500 are left in their native habitat. The front of the medal shows a map of the world; the back relates to both the zebra and the snow leopard. The map is to highlight that in every country there is a number of endangered species, although many nations have introduced laws to protect them.’

GRACE LANCASTER Hollowed Out

‘Poaching inspired my medal, especially that of turtles, and how their shells are taken from them, leaving them to die. Both sides show the shiny shell, and the dirty, unkempt bones. It shows how people kill the animal only for its shell, the “valuable” part.’

CATRIONA LESLIE

Their Home is Gone

‘It was the red squirrel that inspired my medal. It is endangered for several reasons, and by 1940 it was clear that their population was fading in the UK. They are often killed by their cousins, the gray squirrel, who have a significant size advantage. As humans move into their habitat it is difficult for them to survive alongside us. Where do we expect them to go?’

ANNA MALONE

Discarded

‘This medal is about discarded fishing gear polluting the ocean and endangering sea life. Fishing gear, lost and abandoned in the sea is extremely harmful to ocean life, as it can smother coral reefs and entangle sea creatures. Free-form lettering spells out the title, as if from discarded ropes.’

JACK McKENNA

Turtle Shell

‘The intention behind the piece was to abstract the idea of a medal in order to represent something lost, hence the hollow interior, and also the remains, a shell, a visible reminder of an ephemeral life. On the underside is a quotation from W B Yeats, “Things fall apart”, loosely about chaos.’

KIM McNEILLY

Panda

‘My medal depicts a mother panda on one side, and her baby on the other. The mother is sad, angry and trapped in captivity. They are saved from the death of others’ actions, but dying in captivity, moved from place to place to breed and produce. Will she be able to nurture her baby in these circumstances?’

EMILY MURRAY

The Last Drip

‘This piece highlights the ever-growing threat to the melting icebergs and now this threatens the lives and homes of the Polar Bear. The Polar Bears in northeast Alaska and the Northwest Territories have

had a documented population loss of 40% between 2001–2010. The causes of global warming put these animals at risk, our fault for not trying to stop it earlier.’

CORVIS K. OLEANDER

Critheann, Scots Gaelic Aspen

‘The title is pronounced “cree-an”, and it is a celebration, an amulet and a token. The subject of the medal is the Aspen tree; the more I learned about it the more I grew fond of its values, meanings and relationship with the land. Its leaves have been, for millennia, a way to connect with ancestry and territorial stories. It is endangered, and now a scarcity on a territory where it once thrived.’

EDEN QUINN

The Predator’s Predator

‘My medal is a shark’s tooth on one side and a fin on the other. Sharks are hunted for both, and this seemed suitable for a theme of endangered species, as sharks are demonised by humans, so not often spoken about in those terms. I cut a shark bite out of the medal to show how human’s take the fins.’

ISLA SPROULL

Odonata

‘The medal is named after the order of insects that includes dragonflies and damselflies. One side is the side view of wing and body; the other is a detailed view of a cracked dragonfly wing. They are endangered, and I wanted to pick a species close to home rather than from an exotic place.’

HANNAH STEWART Pollution

‘Nearly all species of sea turtle are now endangered in the world’s oceans, with some of these species being critically endangered. On one side, the turtle’s shell can be seen, clean and natural, whereas on the other it is covered with different types of rubbish, all of which pollute the ocean.’

GLASGOW KELVIN

COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF JEWELLERY

LECTURER

KATHLEEN DUNCAN

TECHNICIAN

IAIN BAIRD

ANDREA MANNING

Serious Moonlight

‘My medal commemorates David Bowie’s “Serious Moonlight Tour” concert of November 1983, at Wellington's Athletic Park in New Zealand, and my first experience of live music. I never saw him play live again, and the concert sparked a deep-rooted love for live music, which I have nurtured over 40 years. I am so glad that the excitement of that show has stayed with me. The medal design is based on the original tour merchandise and was hand modelled using CAD in Rhino 7.’

MELANIE REID

The Last King of Scotland

‘My medal depicts an image of a Scottish Wildcat on the front and hand carved text with the estimated remaining numbers of true Scottish Wildcats on the back. It is one of the most endangered wildcats in the world, and its decline is due to the dilution of the species from breeding with domestic cats, habitat loss, hunting and persecution.’

COLIN STORY

Know Your Worth

‘This medal represents mental health in a generalised sense. You could have everything going for you, yet still suffer from mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression or in a work-related situation imposter syndrome. I previously suffered from the latter, feeling like I didn’t belong, while doing well. I made the design on CAD software, which was then grown with castable resin, and cast in a vacuum.’

THE GLASGOW

SCHOOL OF ART

SILVERSMITHING & JEWELLERY DEPARTMENT

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT & PROGRAMME LEADER

ANNA GORDON

LECTURER, PROJECT TEACHER

MARIANNE ANDERSON

CASTING, SILVERMITHING & JEWELLERY TECHNICIAN

MACIEJ SANKOWSKI

YAXUAN BIAN

I Want to Sleep

‘The medal embodies a deeply personal psychological narrative, reflecting the inner turmoil and longing for reprieve from the relentless pressures of life. For me it was a constant struggle to find the balance between productivity and self-care. The tired eye motif represents the way many people feel, and I hope to spark empathy among them.’

REBECCA BROWN

Cat Nap

‘I challenged myself by creating a fun piece by infusing the theme of cat naps into my work. I began by exploring the historical representation of women in art, and the sleeping figure drew my attention. I based the sleeping figure on myself, and the cat on the other side pays homage to memories of my cat when she would come into my room and curl up on a pillow. The medal captures those memories.’

JOSIE CHANFI

Comoros

‘Throughout my life I have felt diminished describing myself as British Comorian, as many people have never heard of the Comoros Islands, and dismissed me. I had never fully educated myself on the land and culture and this project has allowed me to do just that. My medal depicts the islands and the national flower, the Ylang Ylang, which gives the country its nickname, “Perfume Islands”. I hope the medal helps others who feel insecure about their own heritage to embrace it with pride.’

ELOISE COLLINS

Longing for the Sea

‘The design of my medal is inspired by Scottish mythology, specifically selkies, who are usually women who can shapeshift into seals. In these stories, if someone acquires a selkie’s seal coat/ fur they are required to marry that person and remain human. I wanted to explore how the selkie might feel in this situation, as they long to return to the sea and their seal form. The selkie on the medal is weeping, the seal’s tails looming over her.’

ELIZABETH CURRIE Emanation

‘I have explored the theme of the goddess and looked at the historical associations with the goddess and the earth. Throughout history, many cultures have worshiped the earth goddess and fertility in the form of a feminine figurine. I feel we have lost connection and lost respect for the earth. I wanted to make a medal to express this, and at the same time I was contemplating the connection between the conscious and the unconscious minds.’

SUSHAN DAI Bone

‘I was inspired by fish bones, and I thought of some situations where you can see them, for instance when people are cutting fish. So I thought about an idea which is that after people eat fish their body starts to grow fish features, such as scales, depicted on the medal.’

JULIET HARDWICKE

Another Grieving Mother

‘The medal explores themes of joy and grief, hope and despair, love and loss. My starting

point was a comment made by Naz Shah MP, speaking about the cost of war and “another grieving mother”. I chose to address the impact of conflict on the innocent, through contrasting the joy of motherhood with the grief of losing a child. The medal can be read in reverse, as a reflection of the journey to motherhood. I took inspiration from the tokens left by mothers at London’s Foundling Hospital.’

SOPHIE IZARD Memory

‘This medal looks at the decay of memories over time, using the motif of the balloon. Memories warp and decay from the moment they are made; often they are all we have left of someone and they are so hard to hold on to.

The front of the medal, a newly inflated balloon, symbolises a new memory, freshly created, buoyant and full. On the reverse of the medal, the shrivelled balloons represent the decay of that memory over time, so changed and broken up. The whole medal was polished to a high shine and then the area on the reverse was patinated to make the shrivelled balloons to be the focus and to add a sombre feeling, in contrast to the bright high shine finish.’

This medal received the Kate Harrison Award, which is a visit to a working artist’s studio, where the artist provides a ‘teaching’ session about working as a professional, with the funding for the teaching and travel expenses for the student.

GRACE JORDAN

No Moon No You

‘The medal is based on the conservation of the moon. Researchers and scientists often speak about when earth runs out of materials how they could potentially derive these materials from the moon. But why

have we destroyed our planet to destroy another? Bringing about the message, ‘no moon no you’, as we could not exist without the moon.’

HANNAH REDPATH Impermanence

‘My piece takes inspiration from the philosopher Heraclitus and his aphorism, “no man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man”.

Essentially it means that everything in the universe is impermanent and the only constant is change. I have tried to emulate this concept of transience through the representation of water. One side shows a ripple, while the other represents a stream.’

LILY ROBERTS

Decaying Green Place

‘My medal is a commentary on the reduction of green spaces in Glasgow, despite its history of being a “dear green space”. One side shows the iconic grid iron street patterns of the city centre, and on the reverse is a pattern that mimics the pattern of leaves. Land use and concrete in Glasgow decays the quality of the city.’

SAMANTHA ROSS

The Cordyceps Fungus

‘This fungus is otherwise known as the Zombie-ant fungus. It drains its host completely of nutrients before filling its body with spores that will let the fungus reproduce. The ant is no longer in control of its body, and will infect others in the colony. The parasite inspired “Naughty Dog” game, “The Last of Us”, where it jumps to humankind. The medal shows the textures of the fungi.’

LANI WARD

The Overton Window

‘The medal is an approach to identifying the ideas that define the spectrum of acceptability of governmental policies. With our current government being in power since 2010, how have political “norms” changed within this time? Shifting The Overton Window involves the proposition of policies outside the window, persuading the public to expand the window. Making once unthinkable things become regular.’

RUBY YUJIA ZHAI

The Face Inside of Face

‘When I interact with people, I am always attracted to the other person’s nostrils, whose twisted mouths when they speak form a suppressed face, and there is a kind of vitality in the nostril that flows under the skin, and it becomes a self-conscious organ in my subconsciousness, through which I see death, fear and desire.’

KEXIN ZOU

Panda Diplomacy

‘Panda is a national treasure of China. It has been abroad many times as a friendly envoy and has made indelible contributions to developing friendly relations with other countries. I would like to commemorate the panda who came to stay for 12 years in Edinburgh and the friendly international relationship between Scotland and China that resulted from it.’

GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

DEPARTMENT OF FINE ART MFA

READER IN ART & PROGRAMME LEADER

DAVID MABB

CASTING

MOULD MAKING UK BY NEIL LEMAIRE

Prize Winner

GEORGE WIGLEY

On the Topic of (De)growth

‘I have been thinking about how the global economy uses materials, looking at what underpins societal attitudes towards resource usage, particularly in the ongoing climate emergency. In Jason Hickel’s book “Less is More”, he questions the economic orthodoxy that economic growth is necessary, instead identifying it as a fundamental driver of our unsustainable extractivist approach to the world.

One side of the medal takes the diagrammatic format of a chess board, to illustrate the folk fable of a peasant who chose as a reward a grain of rice, doubled per day, from the first square onwards, becoming a multiple beyond reckoning. I thought that a chess board would be a really interesting addition to the design, as I would be able to use the relief and patination to generate alternating colours on the board. The reverse of the medal shows global material usage, in tons. These are two different approaches telling the same story, that would work exceptionally well on a medal.

Then I realised that I would be able to use the edge for an inscription. After some experiments, I found that the best way to do this was to use a pencil to carve directly into the wax model. The handwritten approach adds something of the organic to the design. The quotation is from the economist Kenneth Boulding who said that anyone who thinks that “exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist”.’

Winner of ‘The Herbie’ for use of the medal to make a political statement relating to a topic in current affairs. Presented from the Estate of John Herbert. The medal is shown on page 52.

Prize Winner

GEORGE WIGLEY

On the Topic of (De)growth, 82x82mm

Winner of the ‘Herbie’ Prize for use of the medal to make a social or political statement relating to a topic in current affairs, which in this case examines the conflict between sustainability and growth, in a world of limited resources, illustrated on both sides of the medal.

The Annual Project Award

LEEDS ARTS UNIVERSITY

BA FINE ART COURSE LEADER

JO NEIL

LECTURER

LIADIN COOKE

3D INSTRUCTOR

YVONNE BAINES

FINE ART INSTRUCTOR

JOANNE HALL

CASTING

G W LUNT

This year the British Art Medal Society commends Leeds Arts University for the overall standard of their student medals. They exhibited an excellent understanding of the art of medal making, and the students have engaged with the medium showing skill and enthusiasm.

MILLIE BESTON

Don’t Step on the Cracks

‘The medal is based on notions of belief and superstition. One side is related to the idea of not stepping on the cracks where your feet tread, an idea thought to have links to the underworld. I have been exploring ideas about superstition. On the other side there is a hopscotch, a childhood game where the player hops to the square where a tossed stone has landed. In some cultures, the rectangle before the last represents hell. This pulls together notions about play and its links with imagination and the “other”. The edge pulls both concepts together.’

Prize winner

EVIE BLACK

City Living

‘My medal is about appreciating our everyday environments, and the hidden and sometimes chaotic and ridiculous things in it, which are often overlooked. One side shows a built up urban landscape, where the natural and the artificial fight for control, but where life still finds a way to thrive. On the other side there is a fish skeleton lying inches away from a water grate, the cracked pavement is littered with the contents of a spilled purse (a condom, a bobble, some change, a house key). Each side is connected by a crack on the pavement surface, which forms a gap between some skyscrapers on the urban side and the roots of a tree which encroach round the side of the medal.’ Winner of the Bigbury Mint Honourable Mention prize.

SCARLET BROWN Playing Games

‘This medal is about highlighting the global warming effects of flooding and sea level rise,

Prize Winner

EVIE BLACK City Living, 75mm Honourable Mention, awarded for modelling and contrast between the two sides, using the edge to link them and creating a narrative with different perspective, presented by the Bigbury Mint.

through the use of flood warning signs as a prediction on a dice inside a Magic 8 Ball. I chose to place our future of flooding on a Magic 8 Ball to show how we use the toy to help predict our fate, however the answers to this toy are never taken seriously and easily disregarded, reflecting the apathy people have towards climate change and mitigating the problem.’

LONNY CHAUHAN

Cherish, Release

‘Inspired by the quote, “things arise and she lets them come, things disappear and she lets them go” from the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, I used butterflies to represent the “things” which come and go from our lives. Butterflies are a fitting metaphor as they are a widely recognised symbol of change, but they also represent both beauty and fragility. Perhaps we could all learn to appreciate yet accept we have to let go of things.’

ZAC COOK

Love-Filled Pansies

‘Pansies are beautiful flowers and I’m proud to be called one. This medal is made in honour of my Queer history and the symbols on the medal reflect that. The stars are a modification of the Stonewall Charity logo, circling and surrounding the two intertwined figures in the centre, representing love in its endless facets. I imagine present-day Queer communities looked upon by past Queer people, reminding us to be grateful and humble, but pushing always for a better future. It’s a medal of pain, loss, hope, community and the Queer experience.’

DAYGEN GAUNT

Tribute

‘My medal depicts the short, lost lives of black slaves during the era of the slave trade within America and Europe. The front of the medal is a single cotton plant, the other side a series of faces, some looking directly at us, others merely looking into the distance. The medal takes the shape of the cotton, and rather than a simple circle it gives a sense of the land. I was also inspired by the memorial of Mount Rushmore, and determined to make the forgotten faces of slaves known, and pay tribute to them. The theme of postcolonialism links to my own cultural background from the Caribbean.’

LILY HONEY-DOYLE

Mangled Ursine

‘This medal is inspired by my examination of the violence and apathy in humanity for wealth gained through mankind’s exploitation of beings viewed as lesser, whether animal or human. The history of bears in Britain has been long forgotten, but they were hunted out of existence by the people who used them. One side shows the bear, flattened and helpless; the other is the flayed beast, its guts exposed, discarded, leaving a husk.’

TOMISI LOUSSALA

The Roots

‘The medal is based on the juxtaposition of rocks and hair (toughness and delicacy, or heavy and light). I decided to incorporate the ideas I have been working on in the studio into the image of a black woman with rocks in her hair. This is coming from my interest in cycles and life experiences; rocks are formed from the earth, hair is formed from stem cells. There is a cycle to rock formation and hair growing. On one side the rocks symbolise the weight that we carry in

our strong afro hair; while the other side the hair binds the rocks in place, growing around it, keeping it close.’

SOPHIA MATTY Material Complexities

‘The medal was made in response to a growing interest in the mundane. My current practice largely explores overlooked objects and materials, to emancipate what we may take for granted or shove into a cluttered drawer. One side of the medal features a safety pin, hair grip, needle and sewing pin; the other side sees these objects reversed: the safety pin closed, the hairpin opened with use, the needle threaded and the sewing pin bent. My aim here is to rewrite the objects as multifaceted beings rather than a bland jumble of “things”.’

This medal received a Merit.

SABINE MITKUS

Fix A Broken Brain

‘This medal is a symbolic representation of medication and mental health, through the use of the imaginary pill on one side and a brain on the other, as a way of embodying the connection between mental health conditions, like depression and ADHD, and the necessity for medication. It is deeply personal, signifying the role medication plays in enabling my brain to function optimally. I aim to highlight the significance of acknowledging and treating conditions that affect the brain, and how medication can be transformative.’

ROSE PORRITT

Textere

‘Born and raised in West Yorkshire, I am aware of the rich industrial textile history that has formed

our culture and landscapes. Combining this with my own interest in textiles, I wanted to create a medal inspired by the mill-based weaving that occurred during the 19th and early 20th century. One side of the medal depicts the warp and weft threads on woven fabric. The loose threads lead to the other side of the medal, where I have depicted a typical West Yorkshire weaving mill, and the threads are transformed into smoke from the chimneys.’

EVE SORLEY

Humanity’s Vicious Circle

‘The design of my medal was influenced by the anxiety, helplessness and faint glimmers of hope for our future fading into the seemingly constant stream of destructive events unfolding around the world. On the medal one side depicts this crumbling and the other is full of life. Each face is connected by the vines wrapping over the sides and along the edge. Evergreen ivy is symbolic of everlasting life, and its ability regrow and cover vast surfaces reflects the eternal circle of ruination and restoration.’

This medal received a Merit.

MILLIE SUNDERLAND

Free the Dammed

‘My medal is about the restoration and preservation of British wildlife, with a focus on the reintroduction of beavers. Historically, beavers had been hunted into extinction in the 16th century for their pelt and scent glands; we are now reintroducing them as a natural terraforming solution, mitigating floods on wetlands and enhancing the habitats for a diverse range of wildlife.’

This medal received a Merit.

HOLLY TOMLINSON

Granny! Run Quick!

‘The medal is a visualisation of the folklore around the lucky rabbit’s foot. It shows the foot of a hare bound by twine to a human foot. The merging of hare and human symbolises the tale of witches’ shapeshifting into hares. The foot of an unfortunate hare would be cut off, so that she might be identified and persecuted upon returning to her human form. A medal is formed of a lucky token, bound to the history of fearmongering and feminine persecution. It is about reimagining folklore.’

LUCINDA YOUNG

Over Yonder

‘This is a medal that portrays the past and present of a weakening man. On one side he’s everything that matters: young, strong and capable, looking forward to the next task. The other side reveals his present, frail condition. He has fallen asleep, lacking the energy to look forward anymore. The medal’s two-sided nature reflects how random and uncontrollable the future feels, almost as if flipping it will determine in what direction life will go. The theme of ageing is central to my current work.’

SHEFFIELD

HALLAM UNIVERSITY

JEWELLERY, MATERIALS & DESIGN

SENIOR LECTURER, & CASTING

JEFF DURBER

BA JMD COURSE LEADER

NANTIA KOULIDOU

CASTING, SENIOR TECHNICIAN

KARL GELEF

Prize Winner

STEVEN CHOW

Hope

‘The new coronavirus brought the world to a near standstill and made people panic. After the epidemic has passed, the world hopes to return to normality as soon as possible and start anew. The whale – on the obverse of the medal – symbolises hope and the idea of striving forward, to lead people on all seven continents around the world to overcome difficulties, ride the wind and waves and move forward. Plants – the reverse – show their tenacious vitality and can thrive in cracks and bear fruit in harsh environments. They encourage everyone that anything can come true as long as they have hope.

I created the design in Hong Kong, using Rhino 3D CAD software; the completed file was emailed to Sheffield Hallam to be 3D printed in castable wax, sprued, invested and cast in bronze.’ Awarded the Ditchling Prize for the excellent use of lettering. The medal is shown on page 60.

CHRIS LAU

Protect the Jungle

‘Hunting of wild animals occurs in many countries. People trade in animal bones and teeth in the market in exchange for high incomes, which has made some protected animals close to endangered species. This medal design is to awaken people to actively protect wild animals, so that all animals like the red panda have their own habitat and live a good life in the jungle.’

GIGI LEUNG

Embrace Boredom

‘For me, boring is a good thing because sometimes you will explore something interesting or get inspiration from that, so I created this medal to call people to embrace boredom. The middle of the medal on the front is an eye, because I think the first thing we use to explore the world is our eyes. It also represents the world you see; the pupil is a melting star, to represent the feeling of boredom. It is surrounded by the galaxy and stars, representing inspirations leaking out from everywhere.’

LAVIGNE LI

No Pain No Gain

‘The main idea of my design is to tell people that success isn’t easy to achieve, and it takes time. Sometimes it’s better to enjoy the process, like our life. I would like to encourage everyone to stay positive, though life isn’t easy. The reverse –“I love my job” – seems a slogan for everyone to stay positive in life, and it’s funny!’

KING PAU Dreams are Like Fire

‘The creative process can be confusing at times, but I persevere and use fire within me to keep going and break through any obstacles that may arise. Fire represents passion, energy and transformation, igniting the creative process and fuelling my determination. I did encounter a wall, but on this wall I found a clover, which represents happiness, and reminds us to find joy even when faced with challenges.’

Prize Winner

STEVEN CHOW

Hope, 80mm

Awarded the Ditchling Prize for Lettering, where lettering is an integral part of the medal and its meaning, to create an inseparable whole. The title of the medal, which appears on the reverse, is central to its significance.

SILVIE TANG

You Matter

‘My creative inspiration for this medal stems from the daily emotions we experience. Each of us encounters unique challenges, pressures and triumphs, shaping our moods and perspectives. How we view the world significantly influences our daily ability to navigate obstacles. The medal encapsulates three pivotal sentiments: Hope, perspective is everything, and You Matter. The final one is to say that every individual holds inherent value and significance.’

UNIVERSITY OF WALES TRINITY

ST DAVID SWANSEA COLLEGE OF ART

BA DESIGN CRAFTS

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

CATH BROWN

LECTURER, PROJECT TUTOR

ANNA LEWIS

PAULA DIANE WILSON

Let Not the Deep Swallow Me Up

‘On March 4th 2024, the RNLI celebrates two hundred years of saving lives at sea. Every morning, when I wake, the first thing I see is the Mumbles lifeboat. It is a constant and a comfort, for I know many who spend time in and on the sea. Mumbles first purchased a lifeboat in 1835, which the RNLI took over in 1863. Throughout its history, Mumbles Lifeboat Station has been awarded nineteen medals – one gold, thirteen silver and five bronze. This inspired my medal design, celebrating the achievements of Mumbles Lifeboat crews in this bicentennial year. This year is the tenth anniversary of the death of a best friend, a lifeboatman, who died at 29 of cancer. This medal is dedicated to him, to his strength and selfless service.’

TRURO & PENWITH

COLLEGE

ART & DESIGN

SILVERSMITHING & JEWELLERY

PROGRAMME LEADER, FDA/BA

TOM HEARD

LECTURER

MARTIN PAGE

CASTING

DEVON METALCRAFTS

LENNON ELLIS

Fawn of the Dead

‘My medal intends to capture the imagery of a nightmarish natural phenomenon that has resonated with me. The phenomenon occurs during the mating season of deer, when roaming stags have been sighted carrying the severed head of a rival, antlers entangled. If the stag doesn’t succumb to his situation, he will shed his antlers in the next spring and be relieved of his burden.’

JESSIE GERRARD-SHARP

In the Hands of Zealots

‘I chose the subject of the Magdalene Laundries because I was very moved by the stories of women and babies who suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church, and the fact that it happened so recently and over such a long period of time. On the front is a church, a structure which stands for many the idea of moral superiority. Around the edge are the words: “Unlimited power in the hands of zealots always leads to cruelty”.’

KERRA SANDERS

Mindset

‘To quote Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can or you can’t, either way you’re right”. I wanted to make a medal that shows the importance of your outlook on life and how thinking positively or negatively creates a huge impact on your perspective. I felt that having a medal shaped as a side profile of a head would be different and interesting.’

THE GUEST ACADEMIES

Each year at least one art college outside the British Isles is invited to participate in the Student Medal Project, both students and teachers. This year BAMS has included students from Pforzheim University, where there is a long and historic tradition of excellence in metal work, and also from the Academy of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Arts, Nowy Sacz, Poland, a country with much experience in making medals.

PFORZHEIM UNIVERSITY

DESIGN PF, BA JEWELLERY PROFESSOR

ANDREAS GUT

TEACHERS ON THE PROJECT

ANDREAS GUT, GABRIELE MAIER

CASTING

KALMAN-HAFNER CASTERS, PFORZHEIM

SINJA BOECKH

Let it Be My Choice

‘The medal serves as a symbol of the ongoing global struggle that women face - the fight for freedom to decide whether to undergo a legal abortion. It embodies the broader battle for autonomy over one’s body and health. Although the medal may not overtly reveal its connection to abortion rights, the inclusion of the powerful protest slogan, “My Body, My Choice”, conveys the essence of the cause. The stark reality, as revealed by Doctors Without Borders, is that 22,800 women and girls succumb annually to the consequences of illegal abortions.’

MIA MALU BUCKLEY

Medal for Minimal Efforts

‘This medal is dedicated to all the politicians of the European Union for absolutely failing in addressing the climate crisis. One reason could be that only 21 out of 27 countries handled their climate target plans correctly. Also, don’t worry, I’m not going to forget Great Britain; if you think Brexit was a bad idea, the most recent talk about taking action against climate objectives backwards is even worse. By putting minimal effort into the production of this medal, I mirrored the political work regarding climate crisis: raw edges, simple shape, scribbled lettering, representing empty promises.’

Prize winner

PIA EHLICH Drown

‘The feeling of being lost in this overloaded world, I’m drawn in by all this chaos surrounding me.

Who am I?

I don’t want to drown.’

The ‘Best Guest’ Prize for medallic excellence, presented by Pangolin Editions.

Prize Winner

PIA EHLICH

Drown, 85mm Prize awarded for an abstract piece that illustrates the poetic sentiment of the medal expressed through bronze: a swirling obverse with a sense of centrifugal force is balanced by a reverse where droplets of bronze seem to have been shaken to the edge of the medal. Presented by Pangolin Editions.

JULI ELLER

Mom (me)

‘My medal is about the relationship between my mom and me, a very special relationship. The one between mother and child. One like no other. As my mom gave birth to me, the only thing that physically connected us was the umbilical cord; it was cut and the belly button was created. The medal is moulded on both the belly button of my mom and myself. It is an act of gratitude.’

HANNA FREITAG Amore Mio

‘Self-acceptance is political, a radical fight against a system ruled by patriarchy; accepting yourself as a woman is the most rebellious thing one can do. Since we are born, people pushed us into roles: behave, don’t act vulgar, don’t be too sexy, fit in, speak up, be quiet when the men are talking.

Amore mio, is what you called him gently, looking into his eyes, male gaze. You are his idea of a well behaved woman.

Amore mio, is what we should call ourselves. We, the woman, fighting for our rights in a men’s world. Amore mio is you and me. Turn the medal, Amore mio, reflect yourself.’

DAVID GLEYZER Breakable Chain

‘This project demonstrates a natural, natural process, called the food chain. It is depicted as an artistic composition of this natural phenomenon, and on the reverse

schematically depicts the food chain and what is trying to break this chain. The work draws attention to an environmental problem that is very relevant today.’

CARLA HAILER Home

‘What does it take for a place of residence to become a home? For me, home is the place where I, too lazy to turn on the light, can walk around in the dark and still find my way around. This is what I tried to show on my medal. One side shows the interior of the house by daylight. The other is almost empty, but there is still a clear path leading outside, one you can feel with your eyes closed.’

ANNA KRISTINA JURK

Weltschmerz/World Pain

‘The symbolic language on my medal is easy clear and understandable: the broken heart and tears. The horrible things that are happening in the world right now make me feel sad, in pain and helpless. What are those wars being done for, what do people need to be powerful for, why losing all those innocent lives, cause all these sufferings, if at the end nature is the most powerful force? It is impossible to take in all the overwhelming information. Sometimes I have to close my eyes to cope and live a regular life.’

PAULA LEWANDOWSKI

Who Owns the World?

‘We humans feel like the greatest. We fight for power, power over land and sea, as if we were allowed to decide who owns the ocean.

But do we actually have the right to do so? How small are we compared to a whale?

Why do we believe we are superior to these animals, whose home is the ocean? What do we want with it?’

GRETA MARZOLF Get a Grip

‘Get a grip, get it all together! Everything is fine as long as we have everything under control. If we let go, we lose - at least that’s what we believe. Where does this desire for control and the fear of losing it come from? We believe that self-control will protect us, and if our grip harms ourselves and everything around us, maybe we just did not have it all together.’

LEAH O’CALLAGHAN Focus

‘In moments of confusion we seek focus which allows us to see what is important. One side of my medal is scarred by all the challenges and difficult situations we face every day. But by gathering some strength and focussing on one matter at a time we are able to solve whatever is forcing us to go beyond our capacity. You can look through the hole in the medal to condense your view, looking at what is manageable without the distraction of the big picture. The other side is where the thoughts find order, peace and the presence they need.’

GEORG SCHILLER

Welcome to Eden

‘This medal is an artefact of the Garden of Eden, the garden we all seek. Perfect in its own shape, the engraved letters are of

two falling in love, feeling the love. I was casting already existing shapes from an old ornament, and shaping them as a medal, using existing forms to make a new one.’

ACADEMY OF APPLIED SCIENCES, NOWY SACZ, POLAND

JAKUB JAN BASIAGA

Shot Action

‘The creation of this medal, comprised of two hands constructing a frame, was inspired by the artistic legacy of Krzysztof Kieslowski. The concept resonated with Kieslowski’s exploration of complex emotions and interpersonal dynamics. The medal not only stands as a visual ode to the renowned film maker but also reflects my own artistic journey, where the act of creation becomes a harmonious and enjoyable endeavour.’

ANTONINA CZECH

Fur

‘The medal presents the problem of fur animals – ones used for making coats and wraps – such as foxes, chinchillas, which are kept in terrible conditions and do not have a decent life. The hole through the medal shows that animals are as much a living being as humans.’

WERONIKA IZWORSKA

AI (Artificial Intelligens)

‘I raised this subject because artificial intelligence is one of the major developments of our time. In particular, machine learning, and the implications that go with it, is shaking up many aspects of how we do things, allowing us to deploy A I software where previously we needed a human being. Sometimes it takes human jobs, or perhaps - the sci-fi scenario - it will be organised enough to overrule humans.’

JAKUB PAWLIK

Spiral of Sorrow

‘The meaning of this piece is that life is a cycle of pain and sadness. The spiral on the medal

symbolises how we as humans become less important and less happy, which leads to the bottom of the spiral, in other words, death.’

MICHAŁ RESPEKTA Mirror

‘The medal takes the issue of alopecia areata, which affected a close friend of mine. In this medal I try to show that balding does not make a person look bad or unattractive, which is what she struggles with. The medal isn’t something I was previously interested in, but as time went by I started enjoying the process; carving elements out turned therapeutic in a way for me.’

MILOSZ SIHORA Rebirth

‘This modern-themed medal symbolises rebirth, reflecting contemporary notions of renewal and transformation in our ever-evolving world.’

NATALIA ALICJA SKOCZEN ´

Nike Transgender

‘The medal is about struggles of transgender people, which is close to my heart. Inspiration for this piece was classical sculpture of Nike, goddess of victory, and Icarus, the boy who wanted to be free. Heads of my sculpture are representations of hope, victory and life, regardless of hardships and scars. The reverse represents the ones who we lost to the struggle, ones with wings cut too early, who wanted to fly but could not.’

MONIKA STASZAK

Bipolarity

‘My work concerns the topic of bipolarity, presenting this phenomenon as a form of a

puzzle. When a person who has this condition can change his mood in an instant, my work – which is in two changeable parts – may alter its position, depending on the recipient’s preferences today. This phenomenon is quite well known in society, not only in diagnosed cases.’

MARTYNA SZKOLNICKA

One For All

‘The medal is inspired by my hands, even though they are not the most important part of the body, they are the base for communication between two people. The work presents the bond between two aspects: unity and independence. They are important traits individually, but together they are extremely powerful. Hands are our verification of words, giving words power and expression.’

KINGA TOCZEK

Sea (A drop of water)

‘I am inspired by the melting glaciers. This problem can change our planet, our home. The crack on one side of the medal starts at the South Pole, and goes on through the whole planet.’ This medal received a Merit.

AFTERWORD

Sixteen colleges within Great Britain produced 106 medals for this year’s Project, where they were joined by our ‘guest academies’, Pforzheim University in Germany and the Academy of Applied Sciences, in Nowy Sacz, Poland This year’s judges were: guest judge, Dora Thornton; Tom Fattorini; Kate Harrison; Janet Larkin; Marcy Leavitt Bourne. As each college continues to use the medal to learn about bronze-casting, a tradition springs up, so that students look forward to their time of making medals at college. After the difficulties of the past few years, and rising expenses for casting in bronze, it is wonderful to see such an excellent response to the Project. Keeping alive the art and craft of the foundry – at colleges or wherever the medals are cast – is also the aim of the Project.

The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers sponsor selected prize-winning students to attend the BAMS Annual Conference, and purchase the medal to whom they give a prize. The Worshipful Company of Founders sponsor the casting of their prize-winning medal to add to the Founders’ First Prize Winners Collection.

The Student Medal Project is by invitation, to college departments of sculpture, metalwork or jewellery in particular, but also from other disciplines. BAMS will often be able to have an introductory talk arranged at the college, either in person or over Zoom, and there is an instructive PowerPoint on the BAMS website. Such talks will often be able to include an artist as well, speaking about the making process.

The Exhibition for the Project in 2024, which includes all works selected to comply with the definition of the modern art medal – two sided, easily held in the hand, not too large, weighty or 3D – will be held at Birmingham School of Jewellery from 9th to 26th April 2024.

ABOUT THE BRITISH ART MEDAL SOCIETY

The Society commissions medals which are available to its members to buy. Since its formation in 1982, the British Art Medal Society not only has commissioned medals but also holds seminars and workshops, plans exhibitions, and continues to encourage artists everywhere to take a fresh approach to the medal. For the past eighteen years (with one break) it has selected a recent art school graduate to join the New Medallist scheme, and awarded a travel and study bursary for them to continue their work with medals, sponsored by the Belvedere Trust. BAMS also publishes the twice-yearly journal The Medal, to which writers and medallists from all parts of the world contribute. On the Society’s 30th anniversary in 2012, it published a book, ‘The New Medallists’, which includes essays about its work and contains a list of its commissioned medals. A book celebrating the 40th anniversary of BAMS has been

produced during the anniversary: ‘Encounters with Medals, 40 Years of BAMS’, by Philip Attwood, Janet Larkin and Marcy Leavitt Bourne, available from the website. These and other publications are available from the BAMS website.

The online book: Making Modern Art Medals, A Rough Guide for Artistic Journeys, edited by Marcy Leavitt Bourne, with contributions by professional medal makers, is available on Issuu.

The Society offers an advisory service to potential patrons, institutions and individuals on how to go about commissioning a medal.

The British Art Medal Society welcomes new members. Further information can be obtained from: Janet Larkin

Email: generalsecretary@bams.org.uk

Or consult the Society’s website: www.bams.org.uk

Follow us:

BAMS is also associated with the Fédération Internationale de la Médaille d’Art (FIDEM), which holds an international exhibition and conference every two years, and in 2025 this will be held in Munich, Germany. @britishartmedalsociety @british_art_medal_society

For information on the Student Medal Project email Marcy Leavitt Bourne: marcyleavittbourne@gmail.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Goldsmiths’ Centre supports the Student Medal Project with its administrative costs, including those for exhibitions and symposiums held at universities around the UK, and the online Student Medal Catalogue, which is free to all participants. It contains photographs of the winners, and a statement from every student, edited for clarity and space.

Sponsors of the prizes have continued to be very supportive and we cannot thank them enough. The Worshipful Company of Founders awards the Grand First Prize for the medal that most successfully makes use of the medallic medium, and continues the tradition of paying for a cast of the winning medal for the Founders’ collection. Thus their prize is a validation and celebration of the student’s work. The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers has set aside a fund each year to purchase the winner of their prize to add to their collection, and supports the educational aspect of the British Art Medal Trust. The Grand Second Prize is presented by Thomas Fattorini Limited. This year other prizes were awarded by: the John Herbert bequest; Philip Roberts, the Michael Roberts Memorial Prize; the Ditchling Prize, Joe Cribb; The Worshipful Company of Cutlers; Pangolin Editions; G W Lunt; The Bigbury Mint. Kate Harrison has created an award for a student to increase their knowledge of medal making.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Thank you to our sponsors, those who have presented prizes, and whose generosity makes this Project and its catalogue possible:

The Bigbury Mint (See page 54)

Thomas Fattorini Limited (See page 30)

The Ditchling Prize, Joe Cribb (See page 59)

The Goldsmiths’ Centre (Catalogue and administration)

Kate Harrison (See page 49)

The John Herbert Bequest (See page 51)

G W Lunt (See page 18)

The Michael Roberts Memorial Prize (See page 26)

Pangolin Editions (See page 64)

The Worshipful Company of Cutlers (See page 21)

The Worshipful Company of Founders (See page 35)

The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers (See page 28)

Published by the British Art Medal Trust, London 2024

BAMS c/o Department of Coins and Medals

British Museum, London WC1B 3DG

Design by Two www.twodesign.co.uk

Typeset in Bureau Grotesque

Condensed and Signifier

Photography by Paul Mounsey

© the publisher, artists and designers

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the publishers.

BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY; CARMARTHEN SCHOOL OF ART; CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS; CITY & GUILDS OF LONDON ART SCHOOL; DUNCAN OF JORDANSTONE COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN; UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH; FALMOUTH UNIVERSITY; UNIVERSITY FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS, FARNHAM; CITY OF GLASGOW COLLEGE; GLASGOW KELVIN COLLEGE; THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART; GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON; LEEDS ARTS UNIVERSITY; SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY; UNIVERSITY OF WALES TRINITY ST DAVID; TRURO & PENWITH COLLEGE; PFORZHEIM UNIVERSITY, GERMANY; ACADEMY OF APPLIED SCIENCES, NOWY SACZ, POLAND